Much of general mental health counseling for men, and addiction treatment in particular, focuses on teaching men how to access and share their feelings - something they've been taught from childhood to suppress–"boys don't cry." Men have traditionally looked to women to fulfill the feeling function in their lives. The more importance a man places on the male image, the more he denies his feelings and is silent about them. Men receive messages that to feel is to be less like a man, and sometimes that just being a male carries a stigma of disgrace. Yet within the male there exists an emotional world rich in texture, flavor and complexity. For many men, generations of cultural and parental expectations, peer pressure, failed fathering and overcompensated mothering have contributed to an interrupted developmental process. This internalized process exerts a lasting impact on the lives of men and on the lives of the women and other men who love them, work with them, or are fathered by them. This workshop will explore the struggles men experience as they grow to maturity and attempt to sustain a healthy sense of self. In addition the workshop explores the inner journey men must take to access their interior universe in order to establish and build a healthy relationship with their feeling function and expand their self image to include all of who they are. Participants will also explore, experience, and create methods (pragmatic and doable interventions) to assist in working more successfully with men. At the completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:
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